The four-story library addition would be along the lakefront, on the eastern end of Loyola University's campus. The "virtual library" will be driven by technology, rather than stocked with books, which would be available in the neighboring Cudahy Library. Opponents say the building eliminates the remaining open space along Lake Michigan and reduces access to the lakefront.

However, the new space needed to be connected to the Cudahy Library, says Solomon Cordwell Buenz president John Lahey. "The building really had to go adjacent to it," he says. "Loyola's campus doesn't have that many spaces on it."

The architectural design also attempts to safeguard the bird population, says Michelle Dewlen of the Department of Planning and Development. Non-reflective glass will be used, along with a window shading system, she adds.

"It is not the building that's in conflict; it's the location," says Rogers Park Conservancy executive director Don Gordon. "We don't want to set a precedent for the entire lakefront." Indeed, the addition would be flanked on the south by Madonna Della Strada Chapel, and on the west by a Jesuit residence.

Gordon, as well as several students from the Rogers Park campus, argued the Loyola University's plan violated the city's lakefront protection ordinance. However, two of the law's co-authors, 42nd Ward Alderman Burton Natarus and 50th Ward Alderman Bernard Stone, are members of the plan commission. "I don't think we wrote it for this particular site," Stone says. "We wrote it for the entire lakefront." Proponents note there is open space nearby, including Hartigan Park and Beach a quarter-mile north.

The addition will have a "green roof," as well as designed to achieve Leadership in Environmental Engineering and Design silver level status.

Current zoning allows for Loyola University to have more than 2.2 million sf on its campus. However, the library addition will increase the square footage to less than 1.6 million.